Saturday, June 02, 2007

Pioneering rock, pop, R&B and now blues musician Joan Armatrading has debuted the Billboard Blues Chart at #1 with her new project for 429 Records, "Into The Blues." The record raced to the top in its first week in release (May 1) also landing at the #2 slot on the iTunes Blues Chart. This marks the first time in the artist's 30-year career that she hit the #1 spot on any U.S. chart. Dates for an extensive summer tour of the United States and Canada have been announced as well. The tour kicks off May 29th in Toronto and travels across the country with her band thru mid-July (current tour schedule below).

"Armatrading's blues...matched to the passionate dignity of her voice... simmer sweetly," says Jim Farber of the New York Daily News. "Into The Blues" is receiving some of the best reviews of Joan's prolific career. Fans and critics are responding with raves over her distinctive take on the classic genre. USA Today's Brian Mansfield added the track "Baby Blue Eyes" to his April 24th "Playlist" column showcasing extraordinary guitar work in recent popular music.

A few other quotes of note: "'Into The Blues'...is her sojourn into that well-worn territory, and Armatrading's take is wide and distinctive and stretches the parameters of what we consider the blues." -- Gary Graff, Billboard Magazine

Armatrading will tour North America with a full band this summer having just come off a very well-received tour of Europe that included a triumphant week-long residency at London's famed jazz club, Ronnie Scott's, and culminated in a concert in the revered Royal Albert Hall. Joining her will be her stellar back-up band consisting of bassist Scott Firth, keyboardist Spencer Cozens and Gary Foote on drums. Complete tour dates attached.

429 Records -- the label of the recently acclaimed release "Endless Highway - The Music of The Band" -- is a unit of the Savoy Label Group (SLG). SLG is the North American unit of CME (Columbia Music Entertainment), the oldest music company in Japan. The Savoy Label Group is led by Steve Vining. CME is headed by Chairman Strauss Zelnick, founder of Zelnick Media. Zelnick Media owns interests in and manages an array of media companies.